Dart-like projectile with elongated tail of resilient, compressible material



Dec.

0F RESIUIENT, COMPRESSIBLE MATERIAL Filed Jan. 17, 1962 ATTOR N EYS United States Patent 3,161,410 DART-LIKE PROJECTILE WITH ELONGATED TAIL 0F RESILIENT, COMPRESSIBLE MATERIAL Leonard Cunningham, Randolph, Mass. Magic Wand Corp., 50 Brighton St., Chariestown, Mass.) Fiied Jan. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 166,842 7 Claims. (Cl. 273-1065) The present invention relates to a projectile, and more particularly to a toy dart-like projectile.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive safe, but versatile and interesting toy dartlike projectile. The projectile is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. It may be made of relatively inexpensive scraps of metal with substantially no tooling.

The invention also provides a toy dart-like projectile which is safe for children to use as it does not require the use of sharp or harmful components. Nor does it require the use of toxic material.

The projectile of the present invention is also an interesting and versatile toy which may be used in a number of ways and games by children. It is a projectile which requires little skill in use, but nevertheless is a creative toy with which new games may be innovated.

The present invention provides a dart-like projectile comprising a head of dense material adapted, when impelled, to adhere against a surface, and an elongated tail secured to the head. The elongated tail is formed of a flex ble, low density, resilient, compressible material of the consistency and character of a polyurethane foam.

These and other objects and advantages of they present invention will be more clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and in which:

FIG. 1, is a perspective view of a typical board game utilizing the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a strip of magnetic tape and a portion of the invention in two modifications, formed therefrom,

FIGS. 3' and 4 are perspective views of different embodiments of the invention, and

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a typical use of the present invention, in which the projectiles comprisingthe present invention are thrown against a bullseye target 11, which is formed upon a magnetizable metal plate 12. This plate 12 may be supported in any suitable fashion, as for example, by a stand, partially illustrated at 13.

The projectile 10 illustrated in the drawings, comprises a head 14 and an elongated tail 15, with the tail 15 secured by suitable means, such as cement, to the head 14. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the head 14 is formed of a magnet or magnetic material. Such magnetic material is available in strips as illustrated at 16 in FIG. 2. The strip is formed of magnetic particles dispersed throughout a synthetic resin binder. The strip may be formed with a serrated or grooved surface 17, to which a tail 15 may be secured, when the head as illustrated at 18 is cut from the strip 17. The head may assume shapes other than rectangular as is illustrated by the circular head 19.

The tail 15 is preferably at least ten times the length of the head. It may assume a variety of cross sections, including round and square cross sections. These configurations may be defined as cylindrical in shape. A square cross section may "be secured to a round head as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The tail is formed of a flexible, low density, resilient compressible material of the consistency and character of a polyurethane foam. It is preferably a cellular material and is self supporting so that the tail will project horizontally when the projectile is stuck on a vertically oriented target as illustrated in FIG. 1. For purposes of this disclosure, low density means a density of less than about ten pounds per cubic foot. The tail may be compressed into a small ball between the thumb and forefinger and thrown. When it is thrown in this manner, the tail will always straighten out and the heavier head will always strike the target first. The tail may also be grasped at its free end and thrown with similar results.

While the foregoing arrangement is preferable, also contemplated are projectiles having other adhering means. For example a head having an adhesive surface may be secured to a lighter tail of the character described. Such a construction could be used to adhere the projectile to a nonmagnetic or nonmetallic surface.

What is claimed is:

1. A projectile comprising a head of dense material adapted when impelled against a surface of a target to adhere thereto, and

an elongated cylindrical tail having a length at least 10 times the front to rear thickness of the head and a cross section area in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis approximating a parallel cross section area in said head, said tail having a density lower than that of the head and formed of a flexible resilient cellular material adapted when flexed at the time the projectile is impelled to straighten out as the projectile is in flight.

2. A projectile comprising a head of dense material adapted when impelled against a surface of a target to adhere thereto, and

an elongated tail having a density lower than that of the head and formed of a flexible resilient compressible cellular material, said tail being so constructed and arranged as to be adapted to be flexed and compressed into a small ball between ones thumb and forefinger and straighten out as said tail is released.

3. A projectile as set forth in claim 2 wherein said tail is formed of an organic foam material having a density of less than ten pounds per cubic foot.

4. A projectile as set forth in claim 3 wherein said tail has a length at least ten times the front to rear thickness of the head, and said head is formed of magnetic material.

5. A projectile as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tail material is a polyurethane foam.

6. A projectile comprising a head of dense material adapted when impelled against a surface of a target to adhere thereto, and

an elongated tail formed of compressible, flexible,

organic cellular material having cells extending in three dimensions with said tail so constructed and arranged as to be adapted to be compressed into a small ball between ones thumb and forefinger and straighten out as said tail is released.

7. A projectile comprising a head of magnetic material adapted to adhere to a metal body, and a tail having a length of at least ten times the front to rear thickness of said head and formed of a polyurethane material having a cellular compressible flexible, resilient structure of a density of less than ten pounds per cubic foot with said tail Patented Dec. 15, 1 964 0 cdnsti'iict'e'd' and arranged to be compressible between ones thumb and forefinger into a small ball'which, when released, will assume its original shape.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,011,749 8/35 Brading 273-106.5

4 2,477,531 7/49 Volman 273--106.5 XR 2,807,469 9/57 Swartz 273-1065 3,026,110 3/62 Hess et a1 273106 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,348 1908 Great Britain. 1,151,100 8/57 France.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. 

2. A PROJECTILE COMPRISING A HEAD OF DENSE MATERIAL ADAPTED WHEN IMPELLED AGAINST A SURFACE OF A TARGET TO ADHERE THERETO, AND AN ELONGATED TAIL HAVING A DENSITY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE HEAD AND FORMED OF A FLEXIBLE RESILIENT COMPRESSIBLE CELLULAR MATERIAL, SAID TAIL BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED AS TO BE ADAPTED TO BE FLEXED AND COMPRESSED INTO A SMALL BALL BETWEEN ONE''S THUMB AND FOREFINGER AND STRAIGHTEN OUT AS SAID TAIL IS RELEASED. 